Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: The Final Preview

ign.com:

The last truly great Indiana Jones movie came out 35 years ago. Since then, pop culture’s most famous archaeologist’s last two big-screen outings have been flops. In fact, Indy’s best work since The Last Crusade has come in video game form: 1992’s LucasArts point-and-click adventure classic The Fate of Atlantis, The Collective’s excellent third-person action-adventure The Emperor’s Tomb on PS2 and original Xbox in 2003, and more recently, LEGO Indiana Jones in 2008. So no matter how you look at it, it’s been a long time since Indy has showed out, and it’s fair to wonder if the current generation of gamers even cares about Dr. Henry Jones and his relic-chasing, Nazi-punching escapades.

I’m here to tell you that after playing a few hours of MachineGames’s Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, generations of gamers both new and old should care. Because as good as the studio’s recent Wolfenstein reboots were, The Great Circle might be even better. (Editor's Note: Don't miss our new interview with MachineGames discussing more about Indy's latest playable outing.)

What playing Indiana Jones and the Great Circle showed me, among other things, is that it’s more of an “adventure-action” game rather than the typical “action-adventure” game. And it’s absolutely not a first-person shooter. Yes, Indy has a revolver here (you can also grab rifles and German Luger pistols), but I used it exactly once the entire time I played. And when I did, the gun wasn’t the only thing that got loud. It alerted everyone at the Gizeh dig site near the Great Pyramids – and Indiana Jones is no match for two armed bad guys, let alone several. In short, firearms are clearly a last resort in The Great Circle.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. My hands-on session started at the beginning of the campaign, at Marshall College, where Dr. Jones is, of course, a professor of archaeology. Indy’s working late with his friend and colleague Dr. Marcus Brody. A noise stirs him, and Henry investigates, with you